Maybe praising the Buddha for his virtues is not a problem in itself

[Niatero]

I can’t find it now, but I read a story about the Buddha where he tells some of his followers that people praise him wrongly when they praise him for his virtues, They should be praising him for his teachings.

I’m thinking that maybe the problem is not praising him for his virtues in itself, but that when people do that, it’s actually a backhanded way of evading his teachings, disparaging them or diverting attention from them.

 

[metis]

I can’t find it now, but I read a story about the Buddha where he tells some of his followers that people praise him wrongly when they praise him for his virtues, They should be praising him for his teachings.

I can't verify the veracity of this, but it is basically compatible with his teachings. Unlike Christianity, what we call "Buddhism" doesn't hinge on the elevation of Old Sid but on the FNT and the EP, and even they can be challenged.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I can’t find it now, but I read a story about the Buddha where he tells some of his followers that people praise him wrongly when they praise him for his virtues, They should be praising him for his teachings.

I’m thinking that maybe the problem is not praising him for his virtues in itself, but that when people do that, it’s actually a backhanded way if disparaging his teachings or diverting attention from them.

I never heard of that.

 

[Niatero]

I never heard of that.

It was in the Tripiṭaka somewhere, but this time ChatGPT wasn’t able to track it down for me. I was hoping someone here would know about it. I guess I’ll just have to go look for it myself. (grumble, grumble)